Know which toys are hot this holiday season

Toy retailers and manufacturers may be looking at a lean holiday season, but experts say parents still are going to see to it that their kids are happy.

G. Patrick Kelley

The stock market is down the drain, and most people are looking at 401(k)s that have lost more than a third of their value since last Christmas.

But folks who know say that even during times such as the Great Depression, parents don’t completely deny their children playthings.

“Everything is slower,” because of the economy, said Robin Ellerman, co-owner of Trains-N-Toys in North Canton, Ohio. But “it’s starting to get busy.”

It may or may not be the economy that has delayed things.

“I think people don’t realize that you have one less week to buy, because Thanksgiving is so late,” Ellerman said.

“I think the economy is affecting everybody,” said Wendy Smolen, editorial director of the trade magazine Play Wishes. “The last people it will affect is children, because parents would rather forego things for themselves than not have gifts for their children,” she said.

“There may not be as many gifts under the tree.”

Instead, parents may be looking for a certain quality in their gifts this year.

“The operational word is play value -- gifts that last,” Smolen said. “Not just a flash in the pan that only lasts for 10 minutes.”

Ellerman knows about toys that have lasting value. “Lionel is always hot,” she said.

Toys such as Lego blocks are the ultimate play value toy, Smolen said. “You know your kid is always going to play with it. I think play value is the big point. Parents are looking for value, plus ‘How long are you going to play with it?’”

There is no Tickle Me Elmo or Cabbage Patch Kid driving sales this year; “no one toy that’s popping off the charts,” Smolen said.

She does see some definite trends. There’s a triceratops that children can ride on, a Wall-E robot that responds to voice commands and a dance game that eliminates wires and mats.

“There’s a lot of innovation this year. We see technology being used in new ways,” Smolen said. “In the past, there have been a lot of copycats.”

Ellerman is seeing interest in an innovative new toy called Fun’Fly’Stick, a magic levitation wand by Unitech Toys.

It comes with five flying toys that children can control with the wand and has won a number of awards from toy experts. It can be viewed at www.unitechtoys.com.

Get them up and moving

The trends Smolen sees this year:

“It started with the Wii. Then came Wii Fit and Dancing with the Stars,” she said. Now there’s U-Dance from Hasbro and others.

The trend “is getting kids up and moving again. It may be the (concern over) obesity. It really promotes motion and activity.”

Trading cards

Leading the list is Bakugan. “It’s cheap. It starts at $4.99 and the arena is $29.99,” Smolen said. This is a great gift for boys.”

Spin Master’s Bakugan game includes marbles that morph into figures and magnetic cards. It combines the features of trading cards and playing old fashioned marbles. There are still Pokemon and others, plus there are cards for girls such as Bella Sara, an interactive trading card for collecting horses.

“They’re big right now.”

Virtual world and social networking

Webkins are a good example.

“Webkins is always steady,” because it has qualities that are constant with children, Ellerman said. It’s a plush toy that has interactive capabilities online.

Club Penguin started online, doing things such as decorating igloos, then created plush toys such as a Webkins, Smolen said. And then there’s Kota, “a huge dinosaur” that children can ride on. “It’s amazing,” Smolen said.

There also are toys such as Struxx and Robot Galaxy that can be operated after building. “What they can do with robotics and animatronics is amazing.”

Green toys

“A lot of people are really interested in buying green,” Smolen said. When chains Toys ‘R’ Us are doing their own line of green toys -- that kind of mass merchandising -- “You know it’s a trend,” Smolen said.

Toy Wishes ‘Hot Dozen’ picks for this holiday season

Animal Scramble (Wild Planet; ages 3 and up; $20-$30). Features an electronic hand-held tagger shaped like a giraffe and four fist-sized animal friends. The giraffe calls out which animal kids should run to and tracks the time taken to complete each course.

Bakugan (Spinmaster Ltd.; 5 and up; $5 and up). Combines the strategy and skill of marbles, trading cards and action figures in one hands-on game.